The ARC Music Festival was a first-time musical achievement that paid homage to Chicago’s long history of house music pioneers and culture while also entertaining thousands during Labor Day Weekend.
ARC Music Festival is a global music festival that brought together 60 renowned deejays from across the world for its debut event. A two-day weekend of house and techno music concerts with extravagant light shows and nonstop dancing took place in Chicago’s Union Park, attracting over 3000 people.
The outdoor music festival was put on by Auris Presents in Chicago and featured four distinct stages, including The Grid, Expansions, Elrow & The ARC Car, each with a distinct exotic theme. Celebrating the work and boldness of renowned deejays such as Frankie Knuckles, who helped establish the ’80s house music genre, as well as, Carl Cox and Seth Troxler, who helped grow the house music scene today.
“House music is still Chicago’s gift to the music industry,” says festival producer Nick Karounos. “As it travels, it has altered form and style, giving up boundaries and bringing people together.” With this, we agree. House music opened doors and created a solid foundation for many of the genres that we hear today when it comes to EDM.
In the late 1970s, Frankie Knuckles, widely regarded as the inventor of house music, moved to Chicago from New York for an assignment from Robert Williams, owner of US Studios, to deejay at the Warehouse.
“His mixes were dance-able because he used crossover techniques to enhance the climaxes of the songs,” explains Kevin. “So when Frankie combined disco with R&B hooks at the Warehouse in Chicago, the dance music became fashionable, which led to the term ‘house’ being applied to music played at clubs like the Warehouse.”
Toni Shelton is a film director and editor who has worked on The Queen of House Music, as well as an Emmy award-winning editor. Since she was a teenager in the mid-1980s, Toni has been running house music parties. Over three decades, Toni has been honored with local and national honors for her contribution to the Chicago house music scene.
“We were just little kids when we first danced to house music,” says Toni. “My house parties were where you went if you wanted to party and experience love, excitement, and music all at the same time!”
Toni was familiar with the ARC Music Festival through their social media efforts, and the lineup of deejays was particularly appealing to people all around the world. “The ARC Music Festival had these incredible advertisements that were bright and colorful with a lot of deejays utilizing stage lighting effects,” says Toni. “I loved the enthusiasm and seeing how popular house music has become across the world.”
Toni began hosting house parties in Chicago’s local clubs. She hired several of her close friends to deejay her events, including Andre’ Hatchett, Keith Fobs, Rob Taylor, Kenny Ray, and Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley, who are all prominent house DJs in Chicago.
“They appreciated Frankie Knuckles’ musical style and deejay approaches,” says Toni, “and my deejays are still sought after all around the world to work events from Hollywood to Jamaica.”
In the area of international house music, Belgium’s Keef Fobs has witnessed the success of events like the ARC festival, and says these reborn deejays have discovered a niche in countries like India and China.
“I was pleased to see that our original house music style is recognized across the world,” says Keith. “It’s a fantastic sense of satisfaction knowing that the world recognizes Chicago as the birthplace of house music.” The ARC Music Festival strives to do so each year, as stated on their website arcmusicfestival.com, to add much more than simply music; and to bring the world’s culture and artistry to Chicago’s distinctiveness.
This is the way for Chicago’s pioneers to say ‘thank you’ and show their love for the city’s fascinating music sound, also known as ‘house,’ according to organizers.
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